ORACLE DATA SHEET

ORACLE AUDIT VAULT AND

DATABASE FIREWALL
SCALABLE DATABASE ACTIVITY
MONITORING AND AUDITING
KEY FEATURES
Activity monitoring and blocking on the
network combined with consolidation of
audit data for Oracle, Microsoft SQL
Server, SAP Sybase, and IBM DB2
White list, black list, and exception list
based enforcement on the network
Extensible audit collection framework
with templates for XML and table-based
audit data
Dozens of built-in customizable
compliance reports combined with
proactive alerting and notification
Interactive, PDF, and Excel reports
Fine grained source-based
authorizations for auditors and
administrators
Highly scalable architecture to support
large number of databases with high
traffic volume
Pre-configured Software appliance for
convenience and reliability
High availability support
KEY BENEFITS
First line of defense that transparently
blocks unauthorized traffic, provides a
complete view of database activity, and
consolidates audit data
Achieve compliance quickly with
packaged and customizable reports
Meet both security and compliance
requirements with a single deployment
Lower cost of ownership with highly
accurate SQL analysis, out-of-the-box
reports, and proactive alerts



Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall provides a first line of defense for
databases and consolidates audit data from databases, operating systems, and
directories. A highly accurate SQL grammar-based engine monitors and blocks
unauthorized SQL traffic before it reaches the database. Database activity data
from the network is combined with detailed audit data for easy compliance
reporting and alerting. With Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall,
auditing and monitoring controls can be easily tailored to meet enterprise
security requirements.
Detective and Preventive Controls
Perimeter firewalls play an important role in protecting data centers from unauthorized,
external access, but database attacks have grown increasingly sophisticated. They bypass
perimeter security, take advantage of trusted middle tiers, and even masquerade as privileged
insiders. As a result, database activity monitoring and enforcing security controls in and
around the database have become critical. Effective monitoring and auditing can alert and
block attempted policy violations, as well as provide comprehensive reports for compliance.


Figure 1. Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall
Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall consolidates database activity monitoring events
and audit logs. Policies enforce expected application behavior, helping prevent SQL injection,
application bypass, and other malicious activities from reaching the database while also
monitoring and auditing privileged users, and other activities, inside the database. Oracle
Audit Vault and Database Firewall can also consolidate audit data from Microsoft Active
Directory, Microsoft Windows, Oracle Solaris, and Oracle ASM Cluster File System. A plug-
in architecture consolidates custom audit data from application tables and other sources.
Database Firewall for Activity Monitoring and Blocking
Oracle Database Firewall provides a sophisticated next-generation SQL grammar analysis
engine that inspects SQL statements going to the database and determines with high accuracy
whether to allow, log, alert, substitute, or block the SQL. Oracle Database Firewall supports
ORACLE DATA SHEET
2
white list, black list, and exception list based polices. A white list is simply the set of
approved SQL statements that the database firewall expects to see. These can be learned over
time or developed in a test environment. A black list includes SQL statements from specific
users, IP addresses, or specific types that are not permitted for the database. Exception list-
based policies provide additional deployment flexibility to override the white list or black list
policies. Policies can be enforced based upon attributes, including SQL category, time of day,
application, user, and IP address. This flexibility, combined with highly accurate SQL
grammar analysis, enables organizations to minimize false alerts, and only collect data that is
important. Database Firewall events are logged to the Audit Vault Server enabling reports to
span information observed on the network alongside audit data.
Enterprise Audit Data Consolidation and Lifecycle Management
Native audit data provides a complete view of database activity along with full execution
context irrespective of whether the statement was executed directly, through dynamic SQL, or
through stored procedures. In addition to consolidating audit data from databases, operating
systems, and directories, the Audit Collection Plugin can be used to collect audit data from
application tables or XML files, and transfer them to the Audit Vault Server. Audit data from
databases is automatically purged after it has been moved to the Audit Vault Server. Audit
Vault Server supports data retention policies spanning days, weeks, or years on a per source
basis, making it possible to meet internal or external compliance requirements.
Fine Grained, Customizable Reporting and Alerting
Dozens of out-of-the-box reports provide easy, customized reporting for regulations such as
SOX, PCI DSS, and HIPAA. The reports aggregate both the network events and audit data
from the monitored systems. Report data can be easily filtered, enabling quick analysis of
specific systems or events. Security Managers can define threshold based alert conditions on
activities that may indicate attempts to gain unauthorized access and/or abuse system
privileges. Fine grained authorizations enable the Security Manager to restrict auditors and
other users to information from specific sources, allowing a single repository to be deployed
for an entire enterprise spanning multiple organizations.
Deployment Flexibility and Scalability
Security controls can be customized with in-line monitoring and blocking on some databases
and monitoring only on other databases. The Database Firewall can be deployed in-line, out-
of-band, or in proxy mode to work with the available network configurations. For monitoring
remote servers, the Audit Vault Agent on the database server can forward the network traffic
to the Database Firewall. Delivered as a soft appliance, a single Audit Vault Server can
consolidate audit logs and firewall events from thousands of databases. Both Audit Vault
Server and the Database Firewall can be configured in a HA mode for fault tolerance.
Contact Us
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